The Student Opportunities in Applied Research (SOAR) summer internship program enhances the awareness, readiness, fellowship, mentorship, and sponsorship of enterprising students for successful and significant careers in national security, defense, and aerospace organizations, including ARL. The SOAR internship program seeks to create opportunities for and enhance the participation of all students including under-represented students in STEM-related career fields and students who were not previously affiliated with Penn State University and the Applied Research Laboratory.
The 10-week (May to Aug) internship program is paid and includes housing, a meal plan, and travel reimbursement to and from the internship location. The pay rates are dependent on the position and total number of credits completed. Interns work up to 40 hours per week over the summer.
You may apply for any one of the three locations:
Research and Development Office Internship (Reston, VA)
Research and Development Office Internship (University Park, PA)
Enterprise Operations Internship (University Park, PA)
To apply to SOAR:
Complete the job application link in Workday
An applicant intake survey form will be emailed within 1-2 weeks upon submission of the job application in Workday. Complete this survey.
Review and communication of the status of your application will follow 2-3 weeks.
You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply.
Read below for more information on the options for each location and the benefits of SOAR.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE INTERNSHIPS AT RESTON, VA
Undergraduate students in engineering majors below are encouraged to apply:
Computer Science
Computer Engineering
Data Science/Analysis
Electrical Engineering
Information Science and Technology
Software Engineering
Software engineering and/or data science students will help research and develop quality software and algorithmic solutions to our sponsor’s complex problems and work within an agile environment to develop and deliver quality software and/or analytics solutions. Software engineer duties will include the development, test, and transition of Java and JavaScript based software systems including aspects of server, client, and web service components. Candidates should have experience in technologies such as Java, Python, JavaScript, React - Redux, HTML5, CSS, relational (PostgreSQL), and non-relational (NoSQL) databases and have a solid understanding of data structures and object-oriented design (OOD) concepts.
Data scientist duties will include researching and developing feasible algorithmic solutions to given large sets of multivariate data. Specifically, you will be engaged in machine learning-based analytic research and the development of large multivariate data sets. Candidates should have experience in large data and machine learning languages/technologies such as Python, TensorFlow, Keras, SPARQ, Hadoop, NiFi, or equivalents.
Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or Computer Engineering majors interested in Cyber, Data, and Image Science should love the idea of working on the “pointy end of the spear” of cyber problems. The duties will specifically support this organization’s mission sets related to reverse engineering, cyber analytics, and cyber technology evaluation to work on projects that support our Government Sponsors.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE INTERNSHIPS AT UNIVERSITY PARK, PA
SOAR internships within our Research and Development Engineering Offices are available to undergraduate students and recent 2025 graduates from all majors, and the following majors are highly encouraged to apply:
Acoustics
Computer Science (Cyber Security, Software Development)
Data Science (Data Mining, Data Analysis, Machine Learning)
Engineering (Aerospace, Applied, Chemical, Civil/Environmental, Computer, Electrical, Energy, General, Materials, Mechanical, Nautical/Naval, Software, Systems)
Mathematics (Actuarial Science, Risk Analysis, Statistics, )
Materials Science
Oceanography
Optics
Physics
Students selected for the program will serve as active, hands-on, contributing members of the research staff at ARL. Research projects include topics in Additive Manufacturing, Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles, Big Data Analysis, and more. In certain cases, research topics can be decided by the intern.
ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS INTERNSHIPS AT UNIVERSITY PARK, PA
Strong communication and organizational skills are key to working within this team environment for the positions below. In many cases, projects can be decided by the intern.
These positions may include internships in the following areas:
Business Services: Accounting analysis and reconciliations, procurement, contract closeout analysis, and business process assessment and improvements.
Engineering Services: Supply chain management, facilities, safety and security, logistics, and process operations.
Human Resources Services: Recruiting, performance management, employee relations, and awards and recogn
Location: Pennsylvania
Posted: Oct. 4, 2024, 8:55 p.m.
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